Lone BJP MLA Shamik Bhattacharya staged a one-man walkout at the Assembly on Thursday. Following the TMC-BJP clash on Wednesday at Hemadpur in Avinashpur area in Birbhum, he walked out of the House on Thursday after he alleged that the state government is indulging in communal politics, something which the state had always accused the BJP of.

Referring to Wednesday’s attack on BJP workers allegedly by TMC men, Bhattacharya said members of the minority who were defecting from the TMC to the BJP, were being targeted. “Muslim men and women are being attacked there simply because they changed their political inclination from the TMC to the BJP.

The TMC is trying to divide the Hindus and the Muslims,” he said and added that there had been a huge exodus of people mainly belonging to the minority group owing to spats of violence in the district. “After instances of violence at Choumandalpur and Makhra in the last fortnight, many families have relocated themselves because they had been tired of living amidst a lot of insecurities. Law and order situation has touched rock bottom and even police officials who wanted to restore peace and book offenders had not been spared,” he later said.

He also said it was sad to see there was no voice of protest from West Bengal Minority Commission members against the repeated cases of violence at Birbhum.

Bhattacharya also alleged that the administration too was working in a biased fashion. “There were several arrests – comprising members of both TMC and BJP – was made by the police but it was later seen that while the TMC supporters were booked under lighter charges those of BJP were slapped with attempt to murder charges,” he said.

Babul Supriyo who visited the state BJP headquarters on Thursday for the first time after becoming the Minister of State for Urban Development said, “I was told about it when I arrived here and I am happy that the party has the courage to speak up against the state atrocities. I believe that one is a very big number,” he said.